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 he
illustriously colorful governor of Minnesota is in New Jersey today.
Jesse "the
body" Ventura is stumping for gubernatorial hopeful Bill Schluter,
the "Republican" who is running as an independent and
eroding Bret Schundler's ability to win. In fact, Ventura's cameo
in the garden state is appropriate: The Democrats have a headlock
on the state's voters, and Schluter is just making it worse.
Last week,
the second statewide poll in less than a month found that Schundler
is losing ground to Jim McGreevey — who, in good liberal form,
has kowtowed to the environmentalist factions and the teachers unions
with unabashed patronization.
Though McGreevey
has a double-digit lead in the polls, there's still plenty of time
to shape public opinion. Schundler's a pro at that. After all, he
came back from a sizable deficit in the May polls to beat former
Rep. Bob Franks in the June GOP primary.
The trouble
is, Schluter's a spoiler.
Schluter already
has about five percent of the state, according to the latest polls.
And he hasn't even spent much money on the campaign because, well
... he doesn't have much.
That's why
Jesse's in town.
Schluter's
goal is to suck in buckets of cash at a fundraiser today in East
Brunswick. He needs the money to get matching funds from the state
coffers, and he's hoping Ventura will lure just enough weirdoes
out of the Pine Barrens to stuff his pockets nicely.
The Schulter
effort to couch itself as the reform camp is downright silly. Instead
of supporting Schundler — a guy who, as mayor of the staunchly
Democratic Jersey City, has a track record of reform and rebuilding
blighted neighborhoods — Schluter has set up his own circus,
complete with a visit from the clown himself today.
And the impetus
for the Schluter run is pathetic. A gaggle of lawmakers in the state
are looking to hold a constitutional convention with the sole purpose
of reforming campaign finances. Schluter is the ringleader. Why
they say they need such a drastic measure is telling: They, and
their colleagues, don't have the gumption to pass reform on their
own, so it will take a séance packed with private citizens
and, get this, university intellectuals, to get the job done.
Schluter, and
his minions, are way off.
Firstly, if
that's a word, a constitutional convention will put too much on
the line. Opening up the state's central guiding principles to a
rewrite could lead to all sorts of trouble. Leave it to a bunch
of professors in the state, and public records will go the way of
the brontosaurus while ineptitude will become a benchmark for the
public-school system. I've met a few professors in my time, and
they aren't the biggest cheerleaders of capitalism.
Secondly, that's
where Schluter's platform ends. If elected — even though there
ain't a chance of that happening — Schluter will let the legislature
run the state.
These same
polls released last week have made it pretty clear that the Dems
have a good shot at controlling both houses of the state capital.
Without Schundler in the executive office, New Jersey — the
state notorious for obscene property taxes — will be usurped
by the Democratic agenda of social bliss.
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